Demjanjuk appealing to Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (JTA) — John Demjanjuk is appealing his deportation order to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Successive U.S. court decisions have upheld orders to deport the former death camp guard because he lied about his past when he immigrated to the United States.

Demjanjuk’s lawyer, John Broadley, said Tuesday that he would ask the court for a reprieve of 90 days while he prepares arguments that Demjanjuk, 89 and a resident of suburban Cleveland, is too frail to travel to Germany. Demjanjuk faces 29,000 charges of accessory murder related to his service at the Sobibor death camp in Poland.

Israel’s Supreme Court overturned Demjanjuk’s death sentence in 1993 after it could not be established that he was "Ivan the Terrible," a notorious guard at Treblinka. However, in its ruling, the Israeli court said the evidence proved Demjanjuk was a death camp guard. Israel had held Demjanjuk for seven years.

The U.S. Justice Department has broadcast recent video showing Demjanjuk in apparent good health.

Separately, German courts this week also rejected appeals from Demjanjuk to stop the deportation.